That Day chp 1
by EightOfNine2
Summary: This story is set around season 2-3 with Clark and gang in high school. There is a new teacher and a new class, and a new student with a power that Clark must face. There is also a personal drama for Clark who still feels guilty about all the damage his arrival caused.
1. Chapter 1

High School was hard enough on Clark. He had to fit in his homework between doing chores, make friends without being able to join any sport teams or clubs, and he had to keep a very big secret. In a town where everyone seems to have a secret his had to be the biggest. As he entered the now familiar hallways, Clark looked for a familiar face in the crowd. Sophomore year promised to be the best year so far. He survived students that feed on other students' life force, and students that command armies of bugs just to name a few. And they didn't even keep those abilities secret, not for very long.

Pete and Chloe came in to school together. Pete waved to Clark who nodded back. Clark could hear them discussing how someone who often misses the bus always gets to school so quickly. Even a direct path through the field didn't appear to be that short. Since they had seen each other all summer (and had a few adventures then too), they only needed to reassure each other that the year would be a good one. And they barely had time to do more before the first bell rang.

Clark's first class was a Social Studies elective. It was called An Amazing State We Live In. Since he was in a good state of mind, he expected the class to be a gut course. He walked into the class so full of students that all the seats were taken and several stood along the window. While half got to sit down the rest blocked the AC and had the breeze to their back. Lana was seated in the front row sweating from the lack of ventilation. For an instant Clark thought that he made her sweat. He trembled as he walked by as her necklace weakened him. A few laughed but most of the students assumed that he tripped on her feet being the room was so crowded. One or two might have thought he tripped because he was just clumsy. Those students wore Jackets bearing the letter S on the back. Clark thought it way to funny that they wore those jackets on such a hot day. And it was only 8:35 in the morning.

The teacher entered the room, confident as ever, and brought the volume of the class down to a few whispers once the second bell rang. His name was Mr. K (a name usually reserved for substitutes) and he mentioned that he knew two weeks ago that the class would be this large. Apparently summer renovations on the auditorium were behind schedule and it would be a week before they would relocate to that facility for their class. It was perfect because they now had a week (as opposed to less time) to complete their first assignment. The assignment would make Clark sweat if he had the glands like everyone else.

The class could have been called The History of Kansas. Apparently we have an amazing history. The teacher, who moved to town over the summer decided to change his regular syllabus to reflect the uniqueness of Smallville as opposed to Metropolis, where he worked for fourteen years before filling the vacancy here. The assignment was to write a 3-10 page paper on where you were when the meteor shower hit the town and how it affected your life.

The teacher had raised the overhead projector screen to reveal the assignment written on the chalkboard. Then he started to take attendance. Just like a substitute teacher, he proceeded so slowly that the students manipulated him into ridicule. By the time attendance was completed the bell had rang. The teacher looked at the class and then dismissed them before they started to walk out on his class. Clark waited towards the end of the line for the door and welcomed the new teacher to Smallville. The teacher just smiled and sighed as he reached for his planner to jot down some notes.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Math was math, or Advanced Algebra to be precise. Science was Chemistry, and Gym was on the bench since the field was being treated and the AC wasn't working. Everything else was exactly as he expected. His mind was on the assignment from that first class. The rest of the day Clark thought more and more about how he was different from everyone else there. He was bigger than most of the students, taller too, and he could break the tiles on the floor if he stamped down too hard. At least he didn't have to address this problem alone.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing his father asked was who this teacher thinks he is. Dinner was now the last thing on Clark's mind, although it was one of his favorites. The eggplant lasagna needed to cool. His mom knew that the first day of school, surrounded by others which meant hiding who he is all day deserved a special meal. She also knew that the teacher and the assignment were both fine, especially in a course about the amazing state of Kansas.

Clark wondered if this would be the best time to go public about his secret. He listened to his dad talk about everything from teachers to responsibility. The truth was, that his father was continually skirting around the issue and he didn't have a direct answer to his question of how can he complete the assignment. The meal was good, and Clark did take the time to enjoy it. It was certainly a better first day of school than last year when he almost set the place on fire.

When Clark settled in his barn his mom came in to have a heart to heart with him. She noticed that a few things were changed around in his personal fortress of hey. He was just like any normal teenage boy. He was expecting to keep a secret greater than the amazing planet they lived on. This was something that they had wrestled with since he was old enough to question his parents about the why he was different. His mom had to try to find something meaningful to contribute to aide his dilemma.

She asked if it was too late to drop out of that class or to ask the teacher if he can avoid a public speaking assignment and just write about something else. Clark mentioned responded that since he was adopted, he could just say he wasn't a resident of the town when it happened. He could say he arrived a day later when the roads were clear. Who would know that he arrived the day of the meteor shower? Who would know that he caused it? He would.

There had to be a way to face this head on. He told his mother that he didn't want to run away from this. That he had to address this head on. While he wasn't sure how exactly he was going to do that, it was still reassuring to himself and his parents that they raised someone that doesn't avoid the challenges in their lives. With his mom's recommendation he finished the math assignment and then got ready for sleep. As far as she could tell, he still needed that and he had chores to do before school.


	3. Chapter 3

When school began, Clark went to class early hoping to have a spot by the AC unit. He found that most students chose to arrive early to get a seat. The class was filled with students racing to get to the seats. There were a half dozen loose blue chairs added to the back but Clark still wanted the AC location. He didn't want to be seen without perspiration in close proximity to the other students on another record breaking heat wave day in August.

As the teacher came into the class he called seven students to the front. His voice was firm and direct and each one tried to argue with him only to fail further embarrassing themselves in front of the class. He called them out on the games they played during attendance yesterday. The teacher looked up the pictures on record for each student enrolled in the class and learned their correct names. They each had a bonus assignment due tomorrow on Wednesday apologizing to the class for the games they played with the new teacher.

The teacher then passed out an amended syllabus to the class and apologized for not having one ready on the first day of school. One third of their grade was on the final exam. One third would be for the three oral presentations in class, and one third goes to attendance and participation (and behavior) in class. The teacher explained that those seven students would get a failing grade for that third unless they completed their bonus homework and presentation assignment.

The teacher explained that class would be held outside in the quad for the rest of the week and the Auditorium would be ready for use on Tuesday of next week. Monday would be the day they go to the library for research and interviews to prep for their presentations. The teacher would also have posted the order (picked randomly) that he would have each student present their papers.

The teacher then called one more student to the front. One of the S jacket students came forward. The teacher mentioned that he was not enrolled in the class, and that his correct teacher was willing to forgive him if he wanted to arrive two days late. The teacher was vouching for his whereabouts that he wasn't roaming the halls tardy. But if he wanted to stay in class he would have to visit the registrars' office and do the bonus assignment explaining why he didn't show up to his proper class.

This whole time Clark realized that it would be futile to try to get out of doing an oral presentation. Tomorrow he would listen to seven, maybe eight, trouble makers apologize in front of the class. Instead he decided to ask to present his paper first. It was a paper that he hadn't even written yet, and it would be one he would spend a lot of time to prepare. And yet it felt right to shorten his legs by asking to present his while others would still have time to finish drafting theirs.

It turned out that Clark's request was granted. The teacher didn't know his name but smiled at him for the first time since he began teaching. Clark hoped that this teacher would see that not all students cause trouble in their school. Lana also said that Clark was very brave to do that. She handed the teacher a note and then took her seat. Clark expected that Mr. K would look them up and know them as well. They still had a minute before the bell rang, and most of the class had finished reading the syllabus and were watching the clock. The teacher sat back and read Lana's note. He asked her to stay after the bell.

Clark offered to stay too but Lana gestured for him not to. They agreed to do lunch (which Clark forgot about yesterday and regretted it). Clark went on about his boring day filled with Math, Chemistry, and SAT Prep. Even Gym was boring as they were assigned their locks and lockers. And Clark had a waiver to take home. English class also got interesting as he saw the reading list that had to be read and written about. But it wasn't until Chloe caught up with him just before lunch that the day got interesting. Smallville interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

Clark needed a good meal from the school each day. He ate very little as the family couldn't really afford the food of a growing teenage boy, especially one with an alien sized appetite. He got two burgers and milks along with an apple for the afternoon. He kept that in his jacket pocket for later cravings. He knew that talking with Lana would be more important than fueling his body for the busy afternoon, so he was prepared to go hungry for a while.

He sat besides Lana and asked about what happened earlier. Lana pointed out that this was their first conversation since school started yesterday, that he was prying into her personal business. Now Clark knew he couldn't eat. He had lost his appetite. She shouldn't have to explain to anyone what that day was like for her. The thought of doing this assignment was sheer terror. Clark suggested skirting around the drama and just talking about the ballerina costume and the traffic downtown. He even offered to write a two page fluff about shopping and broken roads that she could read as her own.

Lana looked up with a small sense of relief. She would plan to write that paper and just leave the emotion out of it. Despite the note that the teacher read, nothing in her paper would be dishonest. She would just leave out the personal side. That would be fitting to what Mr. K said. She still needs to go through the motions and present something to the class. She needs to do research, and an interview. So she would interview the staff at the costume store. She could put a paper together. She left as Chloe came over telling Clark that she will be fine and that he should eat something. Apparently his stomach was growling.

Chloe recommended that he finish the burgers pretty quick as he's going to want to hear this on a full stomach. He took a few bites and invited her to get started. Chloe mentioned that she heard about Mr. K. from Lana and a few others. She discovered that he was replacing another teacher that died of mysterious causes last year. Mrs. Carter. Was found dead in her home with her brain compressed and yet her skull remained in tack. It was like someone grabbed her brain and squeezed it like a handful of play dough. She was grading final exams at the time and they were provided to the school administration posthumously.

Clark got the sense that this fatality, one he didn't know anything about last year, was meteor ability related. Someone that could squeeze his brain without penetrating his exterior shell would be a formidable threat. Clark asked if there were any other mysterious deaths since then and Chloe mentioned that she would have to charm the information out of the coroner late that evening. Realizing that this mystery could not be solved today, Clark finished his lunch and got ready for the afternoon classes.

That night he started his paper and got through the first few pages of the first draft. His parents said nothing, as the subject had not come up. He did his homework, chores, and got himself off to school the next day without even saying so much as a hello.


End file.
